2014 was a very productive year for the USTTI. Despite serious funding constraints, the USTTI team graduated 320 women and men during our 32nd year of providing 84 tuition-free ICT courses. The USTTI now has a total of 9,198 graduates working in 171 developing countries to make access to affordable modern ICT a reality for their countrymen.

During 2014, we worked closely with leaders from U.S. industry and government to expand our core curriculum to offer a number of specialized seminars. Specifically, we began the year hosting a senior level delegation from the African Union along with leaders from Africa’s Regional Economic Communities for intensive training focused on the digital migration and cybersecurity. In September the USTTI co-hosted a cybersecurity workshop in Istanbul, Turkey for senior officials from ten countries attending the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). Finally, at the end of October we gathered with USTTI alumni representing their countries at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference in Korea. During our visit to the Plenipotentiary it was very gratifying to see so many USTTI graduates in ICT leadership positions working for the betterment of their countries.

For 2015, the USTTI Board of Directors is more committed than ever to providing courses that are most needed to advance broadband deployment and connectivity in every corner of the developing world. Expanding our course offerings in spectrum management, cyber-security, and internet technology are just a few of the innovations contained in the USTTI’s 2015 curriculum.

The USTTI’s 2015 course curriculum, like the USTTI curriculums offered since the USTTI’s founding in Nairobi, Kenya in 1982, have all been made possible through the volunteer efforts of hundreds of ICT experts who provide the USTTI’s world-class training. These volunteer ICT “professors” are the backbone of the USTTI’s continued commitment to empowering the women and men who are responsible for their countries’ ICT infrastructure. We sincerely thank these USTTI professors who each year guide the USTTI’s scholars through our 80 plus courses, and congratulate all of those USTTI graduates who are working to connect their countrymen to the global community.